Quick, try to think of a community that needs tax subsidies even less than Ellisville (not that Ellisville needed subsidies)? How about Chesterfield, Ellisville’s northern neighbor. (They do not actually touch, so they are neighbors like Denmark and Sweden, or Lesotho and Swaziland.)
Two different groups want to build outlet malls (or something close to it) in Chesterfield. Both want a tax subsidy; one in the form of a Community Improvement District (CID) and one in the form of a Transportation Development District (TDD). Both allow the developer to install an additional sales tax with the shopping area. Whatever the initials, the subsidies are not necessary.
Chesterfield should act like the girl being courted instead of the wallflower. I am not one for recommending that city councils reject projects – I question whether city councils should have a right to do that in the first place. But as long as the two entities are asking for tax subsidies, and as long as the Chesterfield City Council needs to consider these projects in the first place (for zoning reasons, etc.), Chesterfield’s elected officials should refuse both of them until they agree to move forward without a CID or TDD.
The subsidies are a total joke. If there is a market for more shopping in West County, taxpayers do not need to support it. The Chesterfield City Council should hold off until one, or both, of these proposals moves forward without taxpayer assistance.
